THESIS

The future of urban living exists in mixed use developments where vertical circulation, and pedestrian friendly buildings allow for an e efficient living community.

The majority of growth in the world is occurring in cities; urban centers are expanding as people are moving in from their rural surroundings. With this expansion, there is a greater pressure for higher e efficiency, as well as greater need to maintain a healthy community environment. They must perform a variety of roles to accomodate the needs of a rapid, constant, high paced society, and do so with a strong consideration of the global environment.

NEIGHBORHOODS

MAJOR ROADS

SUBWAY
FERRY
POTENTIAL SITES AND NODES
PRECEDENCE

Site Analysis

Program Analysis

Urban and Natural Conditions

Renowned photographer Helen Levitt explores through photography the engagement of children and their urban context. Through their imagination, their urban environment becomes completely transformed, and objects and their qualities are seen and utilized with unusual intentions.

This photograph was taken during the summer at a camp in upstate new york. It shows a type of play in an outdoor setting away for the dense urban grid.

My personal interaction with nature. Pretty much as passive as you can get in terms of conditioning. I find that my mentality toward a comfortable environment changes when I loose control of that ability to change conditions so specifically. Perhaps there is a mental relationship between perception of comfort with one's ability to change their environment.

I pursued to capture through photography interaction between the living environment and nature at an urban environment. Stumbling into a seemingly abandoned house I discovered a study that was being invaded by the outdoors. Boundaries began to blur as the senses regarded the space as outdoors, but visually still being confined to shelter. My mind understands the shelter as incapacitated thus rendering it useless. A rather uncomfortable architectural condition. especially with the giant spider and its web less than a foot in front of my face.

Thesis Ramble

I am constantly engaged by my environment. However, throughout my life my strongest memories and experiences occur in two very different environments. My childhood experiences occurred primarily in the urban context of New York City, and in outdoor environments of the Northeast. These environments facilitated a large range of different emotional, and physical responses while I was growing up. They allowed play, relaxation, and sometimes even frustration, and sadness. The two environments did all of these in totally different ways, however the emotions were the same, and even the physical activities were similar. For my thesis, I would like to identify, what were the elements of these environments that illicit such strong emotional and physical responses? And, whether I can bring them together in a single location?

The Muses are not Amused

Silvetti expressed some concern in the manner in which architecture today is produced and taught. He expresses his opinions about contemporary blob architecture as unintellectual, and without reason. at least, besides the fact that "we can." He expresses disappointment in the mindless embracing of such architecture and in some respects addresses it as the most weakening formal development of contemporary architecture. He suggests that we do not use insights of other fields as literal translations of architecture, but as metaphors to enrich meanings.
I believe that his opinion of contemporary architecture is too narrow. Some examples of blob architecture make strong connections to their site, and are thought out through flow of circulation, as well as other dynamic expressions that cannot be contained in orthogonal confinements. The relationships made in some literal architectural buildings are a progression of metaphorical insights. And this research of change and advancement of architecture, while perhaps a little unorthodox, responds to conditions that architects have never before responded to so directly. We must first properly analyze the influences and effects of these buildings on human productivity, and experience before we judge the intent, and acceptance of these buildings.

1 + 3 + 9

My thesis investigates the relationship between urban living, and the natural environment.

Living in a city and living outdoors have always seemed to be contradictory. However both have very strong influences on a person's well-being. Therefore it can be assumed that a symbiotic relationship between the two can only lead to positive opportunities in architecture.

People have always had strong connections to the natural environment. The daily rising and setting of the sun, the changing phases of the moon, and the annual change of seasons. Studies have shown that loosing this connection influences the health and productivity of humans. Another thing that has a direct relationship to productivity is the distance a person is from their work environment, in relationship to time. The commute of a person holds a direct connection to the time they can spend on work and rest. It is because of this that cities grow in a direction that minimizes the amount of time spent on traveling toward the core of the city. For major cities, people began living upwards to maximize amount of people that can live almost adjacent to their work places. Unfortunately with restraints of space and money, including both dense urban living with natural environments were always contradictory to each other. Therefore to benefit from both environments editing needs to be done for both and core values extracted to be able to form a concentrated blending of the two.